Update: I just woke up here early in Pacifica, California and started hearing bagpipes. I walked outside to find the street in front of my house crowded with illegally-parked cars and traffic patrol people in the distance. What is this?… like,… a big funeral at the beach for a firefighter or something? Well,.. actually,… it’s the fogfest,… which is somehting I’ve never been to and never cared for really, but since it’s literally right outside my house, it’s unavoidable… I’m gonna go check it out after I update this post….

….. just came back from a four day trip…. New York, L.A., Washington D.C. Suburbs,…. It’s a extrememly interesting time to be living in America… with the financial crisis going on an and the best and most riveting presidential races in history hitting fever pitch…. Here is my shot of the day during last nights debate on a Virgin America plane from Washington to San Francisco:

It’s a memorable image that juxtaposes both a historical presidential election and a very interesting current lifestyle of mine.

After spending the first part of my day doing such mundane things as buying socks at the mall and drinking a vanilla latte at starbucks for an hour while analysing my life, the most unexpected thing happened to me….. I crossed paths with my old Brazilian co-worker from my days working as a bartender at the Xebec back in 2004/early 2005, Alex Da Silva. I hadn’t seen him since probably December of ’04 or January ’05 (so,.. it had been 3 and a half years). The funny thing was I saw him at the safeway in Linda Mar, where I never go. I was only there because the safeway in Manor was out of boneless chicken breast and I was planning on cooking up one of my favorite meals later….chicken with stuffing. The fact that I would go all the way down to Linda Mar to buy boneless chicken breast is pretty unusual in itself. So,… as I was walking past the check out stand and getting ready to shop with my basket, I hear, “Paul?”…. and I turn and look at this rugged looking guy with a scruffy face and long hair. For a few seconds it didn’t register immediately, but then, it hit me,…. “Oh my god! Alex! The guy with the uncanny resemblence to Arnold Schwarzenegger”. I pretty much dropped what I was doing and we went back to his house nearby to just chill out and catch up. He had been living in Linda Mar for the last 3 years.

At one point, I showed him the livejournal entry I wrote about him back on December 2nd, 2004:

“Last night I hung out with my Brazilian Surfer Co-worker (the guy who looks like Schwarzenegger)at his apartment near the Potrero Hill Housing Projects. We were going to go to a Brazilian party, but he puffed on a curious cigarette which made him lazy and therefore we stayed in and watched “About Schmidt”. This was after he brought out his acoustic guitar and gave me a private bossa nova concert, which was really good. Chilling to some live acoustic bossa nova ain’t too bad for a Wednesday Night.”

So,.. after Me and Alex start writing a song just for the hell of it, his unbelievably and amazingly smoking hot Filipina friend comes over and they head to my place, where we meet up with Martin and Medders before moving on to the Seahorse and Winters (both places he’s never been to despite living in Pacifica for 3 years). It was just a completely random and weird night. I was a little down earlier in the day just because I feel my life could be so much better and I am lacking some things that would make me happier, but the sudden and unexpected reappearance of Brazilian Schwarenegger knocked me out of the doldrums of made things interesting around here. Life is really, really strange.

On Saturday the 6th, we all signed up to go zip-lining through the jungle. For a person who is always apprehensive about going on roller-coasters and never keeps my eyes open while I’m on them, I was completely open and blasé about the idea of flying hundreds of feet above the jungle floor through the canopy at 80 miles an hour. I actually didn’t know anything about it and had never seen it, read about it, heard about it and let alone done it. What I found out was that it was one of the most exhilarating and almost dream-like experiences I’ve ever had….

Thursday morning, we all get into Vanessa’s Hyundai Galloper and take a two-hour drive from San Jose to the hedonistic beach resort town of Jaco on the Pacific Coast. The trip takes us on winding mountain road through the jungle and over a river of crocodiles. We spend a night at an all-inclusive resort on the beach and experience the nightlife it had to offer….

On Tuesday September the 2nd in the year of our lord, 2008, Me, Aaron “Cuddy Lou” Van Lieu, Doug Buckmaster, and Steven Walden landed in San Jose, Costa Rica. This was Aaron’s second foray into this country this year. It was my first time ever here and my first time ever in Central America period. What ensued for the next 6 days was what we at Virgin America call “Living the Dream”…. which for us meant Jungles, Mijas, Imperial Beer, Salsa/Reggaeton music, Hedonistic beach town culture, cheap food, and the good company of the Tica friends of ours (Reyann and Vanessa) who so very kindly allowed us to stay at their family home in the Barrio Mexico neighborhood of Costa Rica. And so,… Pura Vida……. let the pictures tell the story…

This will be a 3 part series because it’s alot to look at and read…. here is part 1.

Look forward to Part 2- “Over the river of crocodiles to Jaco Beach” and Part 3- “Flying through the jungle”. Each installment get progressively more exciting and interesting.